Mevlana Lipp — Ryall.

"In my work i'm always driven by two different forces.

I am very material-focused and I like to use materials in ways they are not supposed to be used, like adding water on wood until it swells up or singeing the top with a heat gun. Often my processes start as experiments like that and open whole new fields of possibilities for me and my work. Changing the surface of the wood to transform it into something new gets me excited. This alchemical process often leads to a trial and error based workflow which is an essential part of understanding the material I am working with.

My works are also quite emotional and a bit romantic. I grew up in a very small town of 20 houses in a rural area of Germany. As a child I was outside most of the time, building shelters or treehouses in the forest. I loved stories like Robinson Crusoe and still do. The ideas for my works are all based on a feeling of longing for a place to escape the commitments of today's society. For me that place was always found in nature. At the same time I know that the romantic idea of a curative refuge in nature is obsolete and escape is no real solution. That is why I try to reflect this tragic circumstance in the selection of materials I use for my work. There is an inherent tension in the creation of tropical landscapes and garden views from OSB and plywood, materials which consist of sawdust, glue, and wood chips. These materials are associated with human construction purposes and even though treated delicately, I use them to contrast the natural elements." Mevlana Lipp